System and method for processing electronic documents

ABSTRACT

A system and method for online marketing, comprises reading, by an electronic device, a machine-readable code corresponding to an object of interest or interpreting one or more characteristics of the object of interest itself in order to identify it; generating a request to a designated computer server for content related to the object of interest in response to processing a decoded address on the machine-readable code or the value of the one or more characteristics of the object of interest; and outputting a link to the content or outputting the content itself to a device in response to a receipt of the request.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/936,381, filed Nov. 9, 2015 and entitled “System and Method forProcessing Electronic Documents,” that claims priority to claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 from U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/123,216 filed on Nov. 10, 2014 in the United States Patentand Trademark Office, the entire contents of each of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD

Example embodiments of the inventive concepts relate generally to theprocessing of electronic documents, and in particular, to the fetchingof electronic documents related to an article, advertisement, or productfor display on a computer device.

BACKGROUND

One well-known internet marketing technique includes the use ofpay-per-click, where advertisers pay a fee each time an advertisement isclicked so that the user is directed to the advertiser's website, forexample, in response to a search engine keyword search. Anothermarketing technique includes the use of website banner advertisements,where advertisers pay a fee for posting an advertisement for display ata website often based, in part, upon the volume and nature of usertraffic on that website.

Mobile codes or so-called “two-dimensional” barcodes such as “QuickResponse” (QR) codes, are also being used in mobile marketing campaigns.For example, an advertiser may mark a product or advertisement with a QRcode containing a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). In the case of a“direct mobile code”, when an image of the QR code is read or scannedusing a device such as a mobile device or “smartphone” equipped with acamera, scanner, or related sensing device, the URL is decoded andoutput to that device's, or a device application's, internet browser orthe like to connect to the designated web site via the URL identified inthe QR code. Information from the website related to the product oradvertisement is then transmitted back to the originating device anddisplayed on the originating device.

In another example, the mobile code may only contain an index identifierof the object of interest, a product or advertisement, instead of a fullURL, often referred to as “managed mobile code.” When the index isdecoded, it is incorporated as an element of a URL that is thenformatted for a predetermined or designated web address by softwarestored at and executed by the originating device, e.g., the user'ssmartphone, laptop, or electronic notebook. This URL is then transmittedelectronically by the device to the designated website. A process at thewebsite may parse the index from the URL and use the index value to lookup one or more associated web addresses. The designated website can thenlook up and send this associated information back to the originatingdevice, which displays the information. Alternatively, the designatedwebsite can send the associated web addresses back to an originatingdevice with a “redirect command,” whereby the originating device itselfmay then retrieve the associated information from the designatedaddress. Once this information is retrieved, it is then displayed on theoriginating device's display.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with one aspect, a method for online marketing, comprisesreading, by an electronic device, a machine-readable code correspondingto an object of interest or interpreting one or more characteristics ofthe object of interest itself in order to identify it; generating arequest to a designated computer server for content related to theobject of interest in response to processing a decoded address on themachine-readable code or the value of the one or more characteristics ofthe object of interest; and outputting a link to the content oroutputting the content itself to a device in response to a receipt ofthe request.

In accordance with another aspect, a system processing electronicdocuments, comprises a machine-readable code corresponding to an objectof interest or interpreting one or more characteristics of the object ofinterest itself in order to identify it, the code readable by anoriginating electronic device; a computer processor that generates arequest to a designated computer server for content related to theobject of interest in response to processing a decoded address on themachine-readable code or the value of the one or more characteristics ofthe object of interest; and a computer processor that sends a link tothe content to a device or sends the content to the device or locationin response to a receipt of the request.

In accordance with another aspect, a method for online marketingcomprises marking an advertisement with a mobile code; reading by amobile camera phone the mobile code; determining by a designated serverif the mobile camera phone sends a request that can be processed by theserver; and outputting a link to the content or outputting the contentitself to a service accessible by at least one electronic device or to adevice itself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and further advantages may be better understood by referringto the following description in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like numerals indicate like structural elements andfeatures in various figures. The drawings are not necessarily to scale,emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of theconcepts.

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view of a system in which electronic documentsare processed, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a detailed illustrative view of an environment in whichelectronic documents are processed, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for processing electronic documents,in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a view of a machine-readable label, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are screenshots of email messages displayed at a userelectronic device, in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Mobile electronic devices are typically limited with respect to theirability to display certain content and allow facile interaction to occurwith retrieved information. This limitation is generally due to theinteractive nature of the current QR paradigm that requires a user towait for the user's originating device to connect to a designatedserver, and to display information associated with a QR code on the samedevice that scanned the code, e.g. the user's smartphone. For example,conventional QR retrieval requires the user to wait for a serverresponse, thereby interrupting current device activity, and to use thesame device to view the content used to originate the request byscanning the QR code. This can prove inefficient due to delays and lagsin information retrieval inherent in the system and also limits thetype, format, and “richness” of the retrieved information that can bedisplayed based upon the limitations of the scanning device.

Other limitations relate to limitations of the interface of theoriginating device, e.g. screen size, button size, lack of physicalkeyboard, etc. For example, mobile device displays are often small, havea limited spatial and color resolution, and may not be equipped withappropriate software to render retrieved content optimally. Theselimitations often require the reformatting of information so that it isappropriately formatted for a given mobile device. For example, somemobile devices do not support Adobe' “flash” content, and therefore,information from some websites may not be properly displayed. This oftenrequires that multiple formats be specified and supported for a range ofmobile devices, as well as the capability to identify which device willbe displaying the requested material so that appropriately formattedcontent can be transmitted. Idiosyncrasies of specific mobile deviceswith respect to operating systems, internet browser features, or otherdisplay-related differences also require that a device be identified inorder to assure that appropriate input be designated for each format.

In brief overview, embodiments of the present inventive concepts provideinformation associated with objects of interest designated usingoriginating devices that do not suffer from the display, interface,compatibility, or session limitations with respect to mobile devices.

In contrast to conventional solutions where a computer device displaysthe content associated with a URL to the device in direct response tothe device scanning a QR code that includes the URL, embodiments of thepresent inventive concept instead permit the content to be delivered tothe user's electronic device display by sending a link to the user viaemail or other preferred form of electronic communication. The form ofelectronic communication can be established by output informationassociated with the originating device and/or the user of that device,which includes an email address, fax number, postal and/or other addressinformation so that materials associated with an indicator of the objectof interest to one or more of these addresses in formats defined by acontent provider and, optionally, selected by user preference. Forexample, documents associated with a processed QR code may be stored ata database or the like so that the links displayed on a received emailmessage may be used to retrieve those documents.

In addition, the requested content associated with the QR is sent to thedesignated email address asynchronously, and not while the user waitsfor it from the server. For example, a user asynchronously requestsinformation by expressing interest in an item by scanning a QR codecorresponding with the item, and then continuing with what the user wasdoing, i.e., no “session”.

Along these lines, embodiments of the present inventive concepts executean out-of-band exchange, i.e., not to the originating device but to adesignated email address that can be read on multiple electronic devicescapable of reading email, for example, one or more of an emaildesignee's smartphone, laptop computer, desktop computer, and electronicnotepad. Since returned email information from a service in which auser's device is registered may be viewed and processed on devices otherthan the originating device, i.e., the device performing a scanningoperation on the QR code, whereby the other device may poll the service,e.g., email server, the limitations described herein with respect toconventional approaches, e.g, direct or managed mobile codes, do notapply. In some embodiments, during operation an advertising party maymark an advertisement with a machine-readable label, spatial pattern, ormatrix code such as a QR code so that when it is read by a camera,scanner, or other sensing device in communication with a mobile device,a server identified by the QR code, e.g., a URL decoded in the QR code,first determines if the camera phone and/or the user of the camera phoneis registered with a service, e.g. by detecting and reading a browser“cookie” stored on the device, and then sends a PDF brochure, or anemail with a link to a PDF brochure, associated with that code to theemail associated with that registered device and/or user.

When a device is registered with a service, the device is recognized andknown to the designated server, since a cookie is present at theoriginating device. Thus, when the server is contacted, if a cookie ispresent then the stored email address may be used to identify the userof the device. Being “registered” in this manner provides the advantageof prepopulating the email address where the requested content will besent unless it is replaced by the user. If an identifier is also passedwith the cookie, then detecting the cookie and mapping it to an identityin the database could also be used to create and manage additionaldevice features, such as multiple email addresses and device profilefeatures previously collected (e.g. via a profile session on webpage).If a user can also be uniquely identified on the device using abiometric confirmation (e.g. the “thumbprint identifier” on the iPhone)or an “infometric” data (e,g, a password) then users could be identifiedby the server and interact independently of an originating device.

If after scanning the QR code the designated server determines that thecamera phone and/or user associated with the camera phone is notregistered with a service, then the server can send a form back to thecamera phone that allows the user to register with the service, in whichthe user can identify the location, e.g., email address, where theassociated content may be sent, and in which other devices maysubsequently receive URL links and/or content. The user may also specifyand opt in to provide associated demographic and psychographicinformation associated with current and future requests.

For example, information provided with an indicator provided as part ofa cookie from the mobile electronic device of the user to the designatedserver may include object of interest (OI), device and/or user statusinformation conveyed to the server as information for example, the QRcode number that was associated with a given document set but which alsoindicated which QR code had requested a given document set (say for anadvertisement in different publications to distinguish response).Information regarding the device might include its location (GPS), timeof day, etc. Information regarding the state of the user might includetheir heart rate to indicate, say, their state of “arousal” (e.g. togauge reaction to the advertisement).

Upon completion of the registration process, content associated with thedesignated object of interest can then be sent to the user's specifiedemail according to user-specified criteria. Therefore, in contrast toconventional QR codes that connect a user's smartphone to a web page,embodiments of the present inventive concepts deliver interested viewersan email or the like with links to the content so that the viewer canview it at a future time, and in a user-specified format, for example,permitting the user to select which format to view the received content.

One advantage of this approach in accordance with some embodiments isthat it overcomes the display limitations of the originating devicesince the associated content can be sent in a richer format consistentwith the means specified, or the device that receives the requestedcontent, to retrieve and display the associated document. One example isthat content could be sent in Flash, even if the requesting device wasan iPhone that did not support display of flash information in therequested email. Retrieved content can comprise both static and dynamicPDFs, multimedia, HTML documents and web sites (including support forscripting and interactive forms), print material, facsimile pages and/oraudio material.

Another advantage of this approach is that if a marketing result, forexample, documentation in response to a selection of a link provided inan email message sent to the requester, is not in a format supported bythe requester's computer device, e.g., PDF, then it can be viewed fromanother device that supports the format.

Another advantage of this approach is that allows the use of a fullrange of user interface options to interact with the associated contentincluding full size keyboards, mice and other pointing devices,graphical tablets, web cameras, voice, speech recognition, etc.

Another advantage is that it does not limit the retrieval of associatedinformation to a “session dialog” where the user must wait for thedisplay of associated content after designating an object of interest.Instead, according to embodiments of the inventive concepts, a user mayuse a mobile electronic device to designate objects of interest in realtime and then later retrieve and review the objects associated withthose items of interest at a later time sent to them via email or othermeans. A user may also review this content on the same device equippedwith an appropriate communications channel and display software, forexample, permitting a viewer to read a received email message on therequesting device such as an Apple iPhone™ mobile electronic deviceequipped with email and a Safari™ web browser.

For example, the systems and methods do not rely on a website to loadcontent onto a user's smartphone, since content is retrieved in responseto the user selecting a link to the content in an email message or otherelectronic communication, whereby the content associated with the linkis provided electronically to the designated email address.

Another advantage of this approach is that it facilitates easy adoptionby non-registered users via a registration dialog with the server once anon-registered user has been detected.

It should be noted that if the associated information is sent to auser's computer device in a format such as ‘email’, then it may also beviewed by the user on the originating device using an email applicationon the originating device.

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view of a system 10 in which electronicdocuments are processed, in accordance with some embodiments.

An electronic device 140, for example, a smartphone, personal computer,or other electronic device, includes a display and an imaging devicesuch as a camera, scanner or the like and a decoder for processing (202)images of a machine-readable code 101, label, spatial pattern, or matrixcode on an object of interest 100, such as an advertisement or productof interest to a user, for example, shown in FIG. 4. The code 101 mayinclude a QR code or the like that is encoded with a URL or the likethat identifies the address of a special purpose computer such as aserver 260, or database 240 or the like from which content can betransmitted via a network or other electronic communication to anelectronic device of choice. Other modalities that require eitherdemodulation, interpretation, or the otherwise recognition ofinformation on or related to an object of interest may equally applysuch as a barcode, digital watermark, spatial pattern, imagerecognition, optical character recognition (OCR), audio, radio frequencyidentification (RFID), or other explicitly modulated coding methods andinterpretive recognition techniques, including without limitation thosewhich can be decoded by a decoding technology, such as NeoReader™ byNeoMedia Technology, Inc., i-Nigma™ by 2GVision, and so on. In yet otherembodiments, QR code alternatives may be implemented, such as microPDFelements used in some software applications

FIG. 4 illustrates one example of a machine readable code 101 which mayinclude but not limited to a human readable index 402 that could bemanually entered by a user to request documents related to that code, agraphic border 404 delimiting the code area, machine readable code 406containing a server URL and index value 402, and (408) a human readableURL 408 of the server used to process the code that could be manuallyentered. The electronic device 140 executes the received URL, andgenerates and outputs (204) a request to the designated server 260identified in the URL in the QR code. As described with respect toembodiments herein, the request may include an indicator comprising oneor more optional record fields. In response, the server 260 outputs(206) a form (for example shown in FIG. 5) that is presented on thedisplay screen of the device 140, which can be completed (208) by theuser of the electronic device 140, for example, entering an emailaddress or other information requested in the form in an electronicformat, for example, shown in FIG. 5. The completed response is output(210) to the designated server 260 where it is processed. The server 260in response may provide (212) a link to the content in a marketing emailmessage to any computer device configured to receive and read the emailmessage, which may include electronic device 140 and/or other devices141 (as shown) such as a smartphone, laptop computer, desktop computer,electronic notebook or pad, and so on, according to the information inthe response data entered in the form in step 208, for example, shown inFIG. 6.

The following is an example of a URL of a QR code, in accordance withsome embodiments:

-   -   HTTP://M.ABCCORP.COM/M/12345678, where:        M.ABCCORP.COM” refers to the domain name of the “designated        server” (260) portion of the service that manages the content to        be provided in response a request. “/M/” refers to the URL        identified as associated with a QR code, and “12345678” is a        unique numerical identifier of the QR code. The numerical        identifier for the QR code is an index of that particular code        in the database.

When the user first uses a particular service, a cookie isn't present(see FIG. 3 details). Here, an HTTP request (204), for example,including a URL, that the server 260 may receive may be structured asfollows.

-   -   GET/M/12345678 HTTP/1.1    -   Host: M.ABCCORP.COM    -   [blank line]

As described herein, some embodiments include the absence of a cookie.Here, the server 260 may return (206) a blank form, i.e., not populatedwith an email address or other data that may be derived from thepresence of a cookie. Here, the user may enter the requestedinformation, e.g., email address, and submit it (210) to the server 260.An acknowledgement, for example, “thank you” message, may be sent fromthe server 260 to the originating device 140, for example:

-   -   HTTP/1.1 200 OK    -   Content-Type: text/html    -   Content-Length: [some integer here]    -   Set-Cookie: email=myemail@example.org; domain=ABCCORP.COM;        path=/[blank line]    -   [beginning of the ‘thank you page HTML here]        Here, a cookie can be configured with the email address (for        example, shown below), and content can be subsequently sent        (212) to the designated email address.

Returning to the exchange description, upon a second use of the service,if the cookie is still present in the browser's cookie store, the nexttime a QR code is scanned, the request include a “Cookie” header, forexample:

-   -   GET /M/12345678 HTTP/1.1    -   Host: M.ABCCORP. COM    -   Cookie: email=myemail@example.org    -   [blank line]

FIG. 2 is a detailed illustrative view of an environment 20 in whichelectronic documents are processed, in accordance with some embodiments.

The environment 20 includes an object of interest 100, for example, anadvertisement or product, and a sensor 110 that is either attached to orpart of an originating electronic device 140, for example, a cameraequipped mobile phone, or a physically attached barcode scanner or thelike. In some embodiments, the sensor 110 is an optical sensor. In someembodiments, the sensor 110 is an audio sensor. In some embodiments,other sensor 110 modalities are provided individually or in combination,such as temperature, radiation, etc.

The environment 20 includes at least one designated server 260constructed and arranged to receive and process an indicator 162(described in detail below), or database record with optional elements,from the electronic device 140 either by a direct (not shown) wiredand/or wireless data connection or over a network 220 as shown to acontent database 240 that contains associated content 270 andinstructions on which content to send and how to route the selectedcontent to one or more delivery addresses based upon a conditionalassessment of information contained in the indicator 162 as defined by auser 300 using a content management interface 280 that accesses theserver 260 either directly or over a network 220. In some embodimentswhere there are multiple servers 260, a user 300 may administrate theservice on one server, and another server services requests from a user,for example, user 120. The content management interface 280 in someembodiments can be part of the user electronic device 140, or in otherembodiments is executed by a different computer than the user electronicdevice 140.

In some embodiments, the indicator 162 may be delivered from the userelectronic device 140 to the designated server 260 in an HTTP requestmessage or the like. In some embodiments, for example, shown in FIG. 2,the indicator 162 may include one or more of, but not be limited to,data elements such as object-of-interest information 160, e.g. thedecoded URL from a QR mobile code, object-of-interest status information164, e.g. the color of a mobile code, device-ID information 166, e.g. amobile browser cookie with identification information, device-statusinformation 168, e.g. assisted GPS (AGPS) location, user-ID information170, e.g. a user name string, user-status information 172, e.g. userheart rate, and/or state-status information 174, e.g. a time/date stampfor creation of the indicator 162 and/or other identifier such asInternational Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI).

The server 260 may also be connected, either directly or over a network220, to a metric database 250 that collects and logs indicator 162related traffic and information regarding the routing of associatedcontent 270 that can be accessed, analyzed and managed by a user 300using a metrics management interface 290 that has access to the servereither directly or over a network 220. The user 300 of the contentmanagement interface 280 and the metrics management interface 290 may bethe same user or different users.

The server 260 may also be connected, either directly or over a network220, by means of an Applications Programming Interface (API) orequivalent so that the server 260 may communicate indicator 162information and/or other metric information to a foreign server 260.

In some embodiments, an object of interest 100 is interpreted accordingto either algorithmic and/or heuristic criteria by the application 150running on the originating device 140, or remotely on a server 260 toproduce definitive OI information 160. For example OCR encoding, imageabstraction and/or classification and/or interpretation, other patternmatching, digital watermarking and classification of any other static ortime varying object and/or signal (e.g. Audio, etc.).

In some embodiments, one or more spatially coded symbols are printed onan object of interest 100, or printed on a label or the like attached tothe object 100, and are read 101 by a user 120 and then manually entered102 into an originating device 140 as object-of-interest information160.

In some embodiments, a user 120 is associated with an originating device140 by a entering a user ID and optional password.

In some embodiments, a user 120 is associated with an originating device140 by means of a biometric, e.g. a fingerprint.

In some embodiments, a user 120 is associated with an originating device140 by a physically (e.g. a ‘dongle’ cable) or logically (e.g. viaBluetooth) connector. The user 120 may be proximate to the device,established by the device sensing a presence of a smart watch, band,ring or related device that can be enabled by such sensing. Here,user-ID information element 170 may include a value corresponding to auser identifier establishing the user's wearing of the smart watch orthe like.

In some embodiments, there is no user 120, and an autonomous orautomatic operation may be performed.

In some embodiments, the application 150 runs on the originating device140.

In some embodiments, the application 150 runs remotely and theoriginating device 140 mediates the user input and display interface(e.g. as a ‘terminal’).

In some embodiments, the application 150 runs remotely and theoriginating device 140 mediates the user input and display interface butperforms some local processing (e.g. as a ‘thin client’).

In some embodiments, the application 150 runs remotely and theoriginating device 140 mediates the user input and display interface(e.g. a ‘thin client’).

In some embodiments, the server 260 is a web server and communicationsis accomplished using http and html protocols or their successors.

In some embodiments, the server 260 is an SMS server and communicationsare accomplished using SMS protocols or their successors.

In some embodiments, the server 260 is a datagram protocol server andcommunications are accomplished using a datagram protocol.

In some embodiments, the server 260 is a session protocol server andcommunications are accomplished using a session protocol.

In some embodiments, the communications are asynchronous.

In some embodiments, the communications are synchronous.

In some embodiments, the content database 240 and the metrics database250 are separate.

In some embodiments, the content database 240 and the metrics database250 are combined.

In some embodiments, indicator 162 information 160, 162, 164, 166, 168,170, 172, 174 alone or in combination is stored on the originatingdevice 140.

In some embodiments, indicator 162 information 160, 162, 164, 166, 168,170, 172, 174 alone or in combination is stored on the server 260.

In some embodiments, indicator 162 information 160, 162, 164, 166, 168,170, 172, 174 alone or in combination is stored on both the originatingdevice 140 and the server 260.

In some embodiments, associated content 270 is sent as a document.

In some embodiments, associated content 270 is sent as a link to adocument formatted in another message.

In some embodiments, the content management interface 280 is a webservice running on the server 260.

In some embodiments, the content management interface 280 is anapplication on a separate device in communication with the server 260either through a direct connection of over a network 220.

In some embodiments, the content management interface 280 is a ‘thinclient’ providing interface and display information to a user 300 on alocal device in communications with the server 260 either through adirect connection of over a network 220.

In some embodiments, the content management interface 280 is a processthat does not require a user 300.

In some embodiments, the metrics management interface 290 is a webservice running on the server 260.

In some embodiments, the metrics management interface 290 is anapplication on a separate device in communication with the server 260either through a direct connection of over a network 220.

In some embodiments, the metrics management interface 290 is a ‘thinclient’ providing interface and display information to a user 300 on alocal device in communications with the server 260 either through adirect connection of over a network 220.

In some embodiments, the metrics management interface 290 is a processthat does not require a user 300.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 30 for processing electronicdocuments, in accordance with some embodiments. The method 30 can beperformed by one or more elements of the system 10 and/or environment 20illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. Reference is therefore madeto the elements illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

At block 302, a user 120 operates an originating device 140 to read amachine-readable code 101 on or associated with an object of interest100. For example, the user 120 may operate a mobile camera phone orother device having an imaging device such as a camera or scanner thatcan capture an image of the code 101 having a QR code printed as anelement of a magazine advertisement or directly attached to a product ofinterest. In some embodiments, the item itself may be used foridentification or recognition, or other modalities. The user 120 may bethe same as or different than users 300 of the content managementinterface 280 and the metrics management interface 290, respectively.

At block 304, the image pattern is decoded by the originating device140. For example, the decoded QR code of the code 101 may include a URLor the like that specifies an internet address of a server 260 fromwhere content related to the object of interest 100 may be accessedand/or delivered electronically to a location specified by the user 120,such as an email address. At block 306, a request is made for data tothe designated server 260 identified in the URL in the QR code forpredetermined content. An application 150 executing on or mediated bythe originating device 140 may process the image generated from thesensor data and, in conjunction with other information, such as color ofthe QR code, device information, user information, and so on, mayproduce an indicator 162 that is output to an address of a server 260that is either known prior as a default value, specified in theobject-of-interest information 160, or selected predicated uponinformation in the indicator 162 or based on contents of otherinformation elements 160, 164, 166, 168, 170, 172, alone or incombination, such as device status 168, e.g., originating devicelocation. Indicator elements may be generated from device parameters,application 150 queries to other information sources, and/or other datareceived from other sources. In particular, the server 260 may receivesome or all of the indicator 162 and extract one or more informationalelements 160, 164, 166, 168, 170, 172, for processing as parameters usedby the content database 240 to identify and route associated content 270in appropriate format and through communications channels specifiedunder program control using the content management interface 280.

For example, a QR code and/or content of an indicator element may bemapped to a given document set. However, this mapping arrangement is notlimited thereto. For example, a document set may be mapped based onother characteristics such as a device location by executing a ruleprocessed at the server 260 or other processing device. Another approachis to set up different document sets mapped to different identifiervalues (e.g. the QR identifier, device location, etc.) to implement theconditional logic without processing rules.

In addition to the application 150, the originating device 140 mayinclude an HTTP browser or the like that is stored in memory andexecuted by a processor, and which generates an HTTP request messagethat is output to the server 260 that includes all or some of theinformation 160, 164, 166, 168, 170, 172 in the indicator 162, which maybe rendered as data elements of an electronic ‘cookie’ sent with themessage. This may apply to embodiments where the browser is a separateapplication or where the browser functionality is part of application150.

At block 308, the server 260 may determine whether the originatingdevice 140 is registered with a service, whereby the requesting deviceis recognized by the server 260 so that the correct email address can beprepopulated in the form. This can be achieved by the server 260, inresponse to the request made at block 306, detecting and reading abrowser “cookie” stored on the device.

At decision diamond 310, a determination is made by the server 260whether a cookie including a device identification element is present,which may be established by reading the request. If the server 260establishes that no cookie is present, then the method 30 proceeds toblock 316, where the server 260 sends a registration query to theoriginating device 140, for example, shown in the screenshot of FIG. 5,where the field for entering the email address is blank. When the userenters the email address, a cookie including the email address is sentto the server 260. More specifically, the server 260 may send an AJAXcoded form page to the device 140. This form is then completed by theuser 120 including at least a destination address and optionally suchparameters as preferred associated content 270 format (e.g. send as aPDF document), a user ID 170, and user preferences/status (e.g.preferred language) 172. This completed information is then sent back tothe server 260 which then completes the device registration and forwardsthe relevant associated content 270 as specified. This completedinformation may also be stored on the server 260 or storage device incommunication with the server 260 and associated with the user tocharacterize future transactions, meaning that a “user ID” may be storedon both the server 260 and in the cookie in order to associate theinformation. Alternatively, all the information, for example, emailaddress, is stored in the cookie and the absence/presence of the cookiedetermines whether the device has requested information from the serverin a prior call. Although content 270 is referred to in some embodimentsas electronic documents, other forms of content can equally apply. Anentry can also be made at the metrics database 250.

Accordingly, at decision diamond 318, the user may register with theservice by completing and submitting the electronic registration form.If the user does not register, then the method 30 ends (320). Otherwise,the method 30 proceeds to block 322 where the indicator data received instep 306 is registered at the content database 240. At block 324, acookie is sent to the originating device 140. The cookie may include anobject of interest identifier so that the server 260 can determine theassociated document, or other content, to be provided to the user, forexample, as an email message, fax message, physical delivery, and so on.

Returning to decision diamond 310, if a cookie is present in the requestmade at block 306, then at block 312 the server 260 may read the cookiepresent on the server 260 from the HTTP request message header. Theserver 260 may retrieve informational elements from the cookie regardinga unique advertisement ID in the QR tag 160 and the server 260 address,a unique device identifier in the cookie and/or a standardized IMEI orESN of the originating device 166, the current location of theoriginating device in AGPS derived latitude and longitude coordinates168, an ID for the user using the device 170, and the time and date ofthe request 174. Also, if a cookie is present, then it is detected andthe email address provided as an element of the cookie may beprepopulated in the message displayed at the electronic device(s)receiving the email, for example, provided in the field shown in FIG. 5.

The server 260 process these values in search arguments submitted to thecontent database 240 that may first determine optionally if the deviceID 166 is present and registered with the server 260 and, if it is, thendetermines what associated content 270 should be sent based on theassociated scanned code in the content database, along with requiredformat, routing information, and/or related data. As described herein,other delivery options may equally apply, such as a fax, automated phonecall, video, physical package, and so on. For example, a physical samplecorresponding to an advertisement or the like based on a characteristicsuch as a postal code or USPS address. The metrics database 250 may beupdated accordingly by the server 260.

In embodiments where there is no device ID 166, server 260 determines ifa cookie is present or not. If yes, then there is no previous call sothe server simply uses the email address or the like in the cookie toprepopulate the email form (illustrated at FIG. 5). If there is nocookie then the server 260 assumes that this is a new query and sends ablank form to solicit an email address or other communication identifierto where the content may to be sent from the user. The server then setsa cookie on the device with that email address (for future reference)and notes the transaction in the metric database. In other embodimentsother informational elements of 162 could be: (1) stored on the serveras a registration record; (2) stored in the cookie; (3) used asarguments to determine the content to be sent to the user via email(etc.). For example, a user scanning an advertisement with a QR code ina magazine in Boston might be emailed different content than onescanning the same code in the same magazine in San Francisco (e.g. thestores where the product was available).

Returning to block 312, content is sent as defined for indicator valuesvia a content management interface 280 that manages the content databaseby uploading and/or linking to associated content 270. Rules may beestablished for different indicator parameters, for example, governingassociated content 270 and routing information determined by information160, 162, 164, 166, 168, 170, 172, 174 alone or in combination asconveyed to the server 260 by the indicator 162. The content managementinterface 280 can be provided by a dedicated application running on alocal device either directly connected to the server or connected bymeans of a communications network. It can also by a web service runningon the server 260.

For example, using a web based campaign manager 280 an automobilemanufacturer 300 uploads PDF formatted brochures on new vehicles to thecontent database. The identifier in the QR code is mapped to a documentset with a Spanish version of a document in it. An email or othercommunication can be generated with a link to the Spanish version of thedocument in response to the user request.

At block 314, metrics associated with the transactions are stored in themetrics database 250. When a code 101 is scanned, an entry may be madein the metrics database 250 showing characteristics such as time/data ofthe scan, which code was scanned, which email the information was sentto and (later) ancillary information such as color of the code, AGPSlocation of the scan, biometric token for the user, and so on.Additional entries may be made to the metrics database 250 for when theuser asks for an email from the service at which the user device isregistered, and when the user selects a link to download a document.

Referring again to FIG. 2, a metrics management interface 290 may beprovided by a dedicated application running on a local device eitherdirectly connected to the server or connected by means of acommunications network 220 a service provider or their agent can search,analyze and data mine these metrics. This metrics management interface290 can also by a web service running on the server 260. For example, aservice provider logs onto a metric management interface 290 web serviceand proceeds to conduct data analysis regarding which printadvertisements 100 are the most in which magazines campaigns.

Although the description provided contains many specificities theyshould not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention butrather as merely providing illustrations of some of the embodiments ofthis invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An online marketing system, comprising: amachine-readable code that is encoded with an identifier; a specialpurpose computer that is identified by the identifier of themachine-readable code, the special purpose computer executing a processcomprising: receiving, in response to a first electronic deviceelectronically reading the machine-readable code, an electronic requestfor content associated with an object of interest; outputting a requestfor identifying an address of a second electronic device for accessingthe content; outputting, by an out-of-band asynchronous electroniccommunication between the special purpose computer and the secondelectronic device following a response to the request for identifyingthe address of the second electronic device, a link to the content orthe content itself to the second electronic device.
 2. The onlinemarketing system of claim 1, wherein the object of interest is markedwith the machine-readable code.
 3. The online marketing system of claim1, wherein the identifier of the machine-readable code includes aninternet address of the special purpose computer from where the contentassociated with the object of interest is accessible by the secondelectronic device.
 4. The online marketing system of claim 1, whereinoutputting the request for identifying the electronic device comprisesoutputting an electronic form that includes a field for entering anemail address of the computer destination or other information requestedin the form, and wherein in response, the special purpose computeroutputs the link to the content or the content itself to the electronicdevice identified in the field of the electronic form.
 5. The onlinemarketing system of claim 4, wherein the indicator includes informationthat is part of a cookie from the first electronic device to the specialpurpose computer, wherein the link to the content or the content itselfis transmitted to the indicator information of the cookie.
 6. The onlinemarketing system of claim 5, wherein the special purpose computerdetermines whether the cookie including the indicator information ispresent, and if not, then the special purpose computer sends aregistration query to the first electronic device, where the field isblank.
 7. The online marketing system of claim 5, wherein the indicatorinformation stored in the cookie includes an email address of the secondelectronic device.
 8. The online marketing system of claim 1, whereinthe indicator includes one or more of an object-of-interest dataelement, an object-of-interest status data element, a device-ID dataelement, a device-status data element, a user-ID data element, a username string, a user-status data element, or state-status information. 9.The online marketing system of claim 1, wherein the special purposecomputer directs a storage device storing the content to output thecontent itself to the second electronic device in response to thespecial purpose computer receiving an instruction from the secondelectronic device executing the link to the content.
 10. The onlinemarketing system of claim 1, wherein the second electronic device isconfigured to process the content independently and regardless ofwhether the first electronic device is capable of processing thecontent.
 11. The online marketing system of claim 1, wherein the firstelectronic device is an originating device capable of both requestingthe content and receiving the content asynchronously by executinganother program different than the program sending the first request,wherein the other program in response retrieves the content.
 12. Aspecial-purpose computer that processes electronic documents for onlinemarketing according to a method, comprising: receiving, in response to afirst electronic device electronically reading a machine-readable codeof an object of interest, an electronic request for content associatedwith the object of interest; outputting a request for identifying acomputer destination for receiving the content; outputting, by anout-of-band asynchronous electronic communication between the specialpurpose computer and the second electronic device following a responseto the request for identifying the address of the second electronicdevice, a link to the content or the content itself to the secondelectronic device.
 13. The special-purpose computer of claim 12, whereinthe machine-readable code includes an identifier that includes aninternet address of the special purpose computer from where the contentassociated with the object of interest is accessible by the secondelectronic device.
 14. The special-purpose computer of claim 12, whereinthe second electronic device is configured to process the contentindependently and regardless of whether the first electronic device iscapable of processing the content.
 15. The special-purpose computer ofclaim 12, wherein the first electronic device is an originating devicecapable of both requesting the content and receiving the contentasynchronously by executing another program different than the programsending the first request, wherein the other program in responseretrieves the content.
 16. A system for processing electronic documents,comprising: a software application stored in a memory device andexecuted by a processor of a first electronic device for processing animage pattern to determine from the image pattern an internet address ofa computer server from where content related to an object of interest isaccessible and/or delivered electronically to a second electronicdevice; and the computer server that receives from the softwareapplication an electronic request for the content, and participating inan out-of-band asynchronous communication with the second electronicdevice to provide at least one of a link to the content or the contentitself to the second electronic device.
 17. The system of claim 16,further comprising a content database that contains the content itselfand that complies with instructions in an indicator generated by thesoftware application from the image pattern.
 18. The system of claim 17,further comprising a metrics database that collects and logs informationin the indicator and information regarding the routing of the content tothe second electronic device.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein theinformation in the indicator includes one or more of anobject-of-interest data element, an object-of-interest status dataelement, a device-ID data element, a device-status data element, auser-ID data element, a user name string, a user-status data element, orstate-status information.
 20. The system of claim 16, wherein outputtingthe request for identifying the electronic device comprises outputtingan electronic form that includes a field for entering an email addressof the computer destination or other information requested in the form,and wherein in response, the special purpose computer outputs the linkto the content or the content itself to the electronic device identifiedin the field of the electronic form.